| Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas! |
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| The Musical | |
Promotional poster |
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| Music | Mel Marvin Albert Hague |
| Lyrics | Timothy Mason Dr. Seuss |
| Book | Timothy Mason |
| Basis | How The Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss |
| Productions | 1994 Minneapolis 1998 San Diego (annual) 2006 Broadway 2007 Broadway 2008 US tour 2009 Los Angeles 2010 US Tour 2011 USTour |
Dr Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas! is a seasonal musical adaptation of the Dr. Seuss book How The Grinch Stole Christmas.[1]
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The musical, with book and lyrics by Timothy Mason, original score by Mel Marvin and choreography by John DeLuca, made its debut on the mainstage of Minneapolis's Children's Theatre Company in November 1994, after special arrangements had been made with the Dr. Seuss estate to exclusively adapt and perform the book. The original production was remounted in again in 1995 and 1998 playing to sold-out houses every time.
The musical was performed at the Old Globe Theatre, San Diego, where it has run every Christmas season since 1998. The Old Globe production was directed by Jack O'Brien.[2] This version featured songs from the television special, which had music by Albert Hague and lyrics by Seuss. A then-unknown Vanessa Hudgens played Cindy Lou Who (1998–1999).
For the 2007 Christmas season, three new songs were added to both this and the subsequent Broadway production. These songs are "This Time of Year", "It's the Thought That Counts" and "Fah Who Doraze" (which was part of the animated television special).[3]
From the Children's Theatre Company, the musical was transferred to Broadway by Maximum Entertainment producer Avram C. Freedberg. This version with book and lyrics by Timothy Mason, original score by Mel Marvin, directed by Matt August and created and conceived by Jack O'Brien. The Broadway production debuted on November 8, 2006 at the Foxwoods Theatre (then the Hilton theatre) for the Christmas season and closed on January 7, 2007. This production is notable for being the first Broadway musical to offer 12 performances a week.[4] In the first week of December 2006, the musical topped the Broadway Box Office grosses, putting an end to Wicked's top-grossing streak that had lasted 100 weeks.[5]
The musical began its second limited run at the St. James Theatre on November 9, 2007 with Patrick Page returning to the title role.[6] It was originally planned that the show would run continuously with up to 15 performances a week until January 6, 2008,[7] but the show was halted before the morning matinee of November 10 because of the Local One stagehand strike.[8] The show remained dark due to failed negotiations. On November 19 the show's general manager, David Waggett, announced that Local One had agreed to continue to work on the show due to the unique contracts with the show's stagehands, but later the same day the owners of St. James Theatre issued a statement that the musical will not reopen until the strike affecting all of Broadway had been settled.[9] The producers of the musical brought the matter to court and were granted an injunction enabling the show to resume on November 23.[10] The musical staged a total of 11 performances for the Thanksgiving weekend (November 23 to 25), an unusual occurrence for Broadway shows.[11]
Cast
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2006 season
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2007 season[12]
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A limited-engagement tour ran during the Christmas season of 2008. The musical started at the Hippodrome in Baltimore from November 11 to 23, and then played the Citi Performing Arts Center Wang Theatre in Boston from November 26 to December 28. Matt August directed the show, John DeLuca original choreographer, Bob Richard co-choreographer. The cast included Stefán Karl starring as the Grinch, Walter Charles (Old Max), Andrew Keenan-Bolger (Young Max).[13]
In 2010, after the 2009 Los Angels production, a non-equity national tour ran in the cities of Omaha, Houston, Dallas, Tempe and Toronto. In 2011, the national tour will play in the cities of Providence, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, St. Louis and San Francisco.
The musical then had its most recent production in Hollywood, CA at the Pantages Theatre (Hollywood) and ran from November 10, 2009 to December 27, 2009.[14] Stefán Karl Stefánsson reprised his role from the tour as the Grinch with John Larroquette as Old Max. Kayley Stallings and Issadora Ava Tulalian as Cindy Lou Who and James Royce as Young Max.[15]
(*=Music by Albert Hague, lyrics by Dr. Seuss)
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